Bless the Broken Road

Summary:Thanks to lunamoon for the awesome banner please show her some love
Bella and her family are con artists. Her path crosses with Edward and the opportunity is too great to pass up, making him her next mark. Edward is blissfully unaware, and it will take a lot of mistakes to finally lead him back to Bella and the truth.

15. Everything is not always about Bella (VPOV)

The life of luxury Aro had accustomed us to was the life I had always wanted. Growing up in a big home with several rooms, a full staff, a tennis court, a pool, and the world at my feet, didn’t offer me the satisfaction I wanted out of life. Things were always too perfect and easy for me, making my existence a boring one.

Between Bella and me, I was the more popular one and the one most sought after, but it still wasn’t enough. I established my alpha girl status quickly and ruled the stupid private school Aro had us in, but that was unfulfilling. There was no excitement from any of this, it was more like a hobby, something to do until something better came along.

To add insult to injury, happiness seemed to radiate from Bella. Her positive attitude helped her garner a positive view of herself from every one who met her. All the teachers loved her, and the boys seemed to like her more than they should, luckily she was oblivious to all of this or so she claimed. Of course none of that was ever enough for Bella, she needed to have Aro’s love too. I admit, I preferred what Aro had to offer me financially than emotionally and got along better with Renee, but I still hated that she got all of his love instead of me.

When Aro died I was heartbroken, it seemed that his death was a catalyst that led me to my downfall. All the luxuries I had been accustomed to had been ripped away. My family was torn apart, and we were struggling greatly. After that I knew I would do whatever it took to regain all that I once had.

Thankfully, Renee wasn’t the only one who felt that way, and surprisingly Bella wasn’t either. Renee had big plans for both Bella and I, and I was more than happy to oblige. Being in the con business was exactly the type of thrill I had been craving before Aro’s death, and I was finally getting everything I wanted.

The life that Renee gave me was exactly what I needed. There was excitement, intrigue and money, lots, and lots of money. Quickly, we learned everything Renee had to show us and began our lives as scam artist.

Bella seemed to take to the life well, a little too well for my liking but she got the job done and I couldn’t complain. As the years sped by Bella only got better, while I played second fiddle to her, it wasn’t ideal but I still got my moments where I came out on top.

When we had settled in Seattle it was my turn to be the girl in charge, but of course Bella beat me to it. Not that I complained once I saw Edward for the first time. I was more than ready to drop my panties for him, for the sake of the job of course.

While Bella worked her con, I kept trying to find my next mark, but my efforts were futile. Every time I thought I found the right mark, something would happen that prevented me from succeeding. So the fact that I would get to sleep with Edward was the only comforting thought, especially after I found out Bella had gotten him to propose within the time limit. I was going to loose my share of the money because Bella had doped the loser into marrying her. I drove us to Renee’s so that we could get our money and leave. A fresh start was exactly what I needed to finally get out of Bella’s wings.

After Bella had her little chat about getting engaged Renee called me in to talk. When I walked in I saw a panicked Renee.

“What’s wrong? What else did she do to fuck this up?”

“She hasn’t messed up, but she think she’s in love with him. I had to agree to put him through a test so that we can still continue.”

“What? Why would you agree to that?”

“I did it to buy us some time and to teach the brat a lesson!” Renee said in a fury.

“Okay? What’s the plan?” I asked confused.

“She’s hell bent on Jessica to be the bait, which probably means she will cut a deal with her to help her out. We just got to make sure our offer is better than hers and we’ll be good.

“Of course,” I responded. Already, I began plotting the ways to keep Jessica in line.

“We need to start tempting Edward with different girls now, just in case. We’re going to need some ammo,” she said.

“I’ll call Laurent and have him set us up with some girls,” I responded.

“We need to keep a strict eye on your sister, the day of the bachelorette party we’re going to have to duck out early,” she finished.

“Right, maybe I can get Alice to have it end earlier,” I responded.

“Okay, have James tail Bella, we can’t fuck this up,” Renee said.

With that we began our plan, we sent girl after girl to temp Edward but he was oblivious to their charm. He only had eyes for Bella. We watched him carefully and Bella as well, and sure enough Jessica dropped by. During all the planning I mentioned to Alice that it was better for all of us if the bachelorette party end early, because some people needed to work the next day, and she agreed. I was intrigued when she said Bella had requested the same thing, we had had James following her but he never noticed anything out of the ordinary.

It wasn’t until a week later that she met up with Jessica at our apartment. I sat on the hood of her car and waited until she got out. She walked her face looking down, with a stupid smile on her face. I couldn’t wait to wipe that look off her face. Finally she looked up to unlock her car; her eyes bulged out of her sockets once she saw me. She let out a heavy sigh and walked towards me.

“Hey, Vanessa,” she said angrily.

“Let’s go for a ride Jess, I‘m sure Renee would love to know how your doing,” I said, entering the passenger side.

I gave her directions as she drove, but didn’t bother to catch up or pretend this was a friendly meeting. We arrived at Renee’s and she followed me, like the obedient monkey was.

“Whatever Bella is offering you we can do better,” Renee said, not wasting any time.

“Umm,” muttered Jessica.

“Look, we’re not stupid we know Bella is trying to pull a fast one on us and if you help us, you will be free to do as you like and will receive a heavy compensation,” Renee said.

“I-“Jessica began but I cut her off before she could continue.

“Listen up, we made you, we will destroy you. How do you think your new boyfriend will feel about all the things you’ve done, all the lies you’ve told?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

I watched her struggle for a few minutes before finally agreeing.

Renee smirked, a wicked smiled playing at her lips as she snapped her fingers hurrying Jessica to tell us what she knew.

“She wants to test him herself, so she’s going to have me watch him until he is drunk enough to still know what he’s doing and go from there,” Jessica said, her head hanging low.

“Oh Bella,” Renee said, chuckling.

I waited for Renee to come up with a plan, while Jessica kept grabbing pieces of hair and chewing on them.

Several minutes passed before Renee finally spoke, “Ok for now do as planned and you’re home free.”

Jessica merely nodded and stood there with a scared look on her face, reminding me of a deer caught by headlights.

“You can go now,” I said.

Jessica walked off and closed the door behind her. I let out a scream, angry at Bella’s intentions. Bella always had to be the center of attention. She was never satisfied if things didn’t go her way.

“Isn’t that sweet?” Renee said sarcastically.

“How dare she? Who the fuck does he think she is? She needs to get it through her head it’s not always about her!” I screamed, anger taking me over.

“Focus, put your feelings aside and learn to use what you got,” Renee said. When I didn’t respond she continued. “Here’s what I’m thinking, right before Jessica slips out, she puts a roofie in Edward’s drink so that way when Bella shows up Edward will be out of it and will cheat on her with her.”

We laughed at the absurdity of the situation and she continued. “Ok enough of that. Let’s continue so when he does cheat she will be heartbroken. We will also have to send you in just to cover our tracks. You do a little dance, a quick fuck, and then you’re out. James will photograph the pictures and we’ll show them to her.”

“Great plan but, the pictures won’t be enough for her. She really thinks he loves her,” I stated.

“True, then she’ll just have to hear it out of the horse’s mouth. When she sees the pictures she’ll doubt us. We just need to get her to overhear a conversation between you and him about that night, plain and simple.”

“This is so annoyingly complicated, not only to have to trick Edward, but now Bella too!”

“I know but it’s necessary for her sake and ours,” Renee said.

By the day of the bachelor/bachelorette party we still had no evidence against Edward. Our efforts in that department had been useless. The only way to loosen up this guy would be with alcohol, and lots of it. We called Jessica and let her now of our plans the same day, so that she didn’t have enough time to think about changing her mind. Before heading to the bachelorette party, we met with Jessica to give her the roofie.

“Break it in half and slip it into his drink,” Renee commanded.

“Why only half?” Jessica wondered.

“Think about it genius, alcohol and roofies. We don’t want him to overdose on this, do we? He’s not useful to us dead!” Renee screamed.

“Right,” Jessica said.

We took off and headed to the club where Alice was hosting the party. The party dragged on with stupid trivia games, pathetic strippers, who were hot but focused on Bella. And the fashion show was just an utter mess. When Bella ducked out early we knew it was our cue to leave as well.

James was at the bachelor party, ready with his camera. He called us to let us know when Jessica arrived and to make sure she did as she was told. She called us to let us know that Bella was on her way and that we should get ready.

“It’s done, I expect my payment after this,” Jessica said, flatly.

“Of course,” I responded and hung up.

We waited outside and while I was changing we saw Bella go in already dressed in a stripper outfit. We gave James a heads up so Bella wouldn’t notice him. After almost an hour inside, Bella left the bar with a smug look on her face. Her look concerned the both us, and I couldn’t wait to wipe that look from her face and turn that smugness into heart ache.

Finally, it was my turn with Edward, something I had been looking forward to since Bella brought him home. I made sure James had the camera ready. I headed straight for Edward and didn’t waste any time. And yet, he still resisted in his drunken haze. I did everything I could to get him to sleep with me and was almost successful but at the last minute he pushed me aside and left.

I was extremely frustrated with the situation. Nothing had worked out as planned. It wasn’t until James mentioned that he saw Bella and Edward slip into the back that really got our attention.

“What do you mean at least she knows he’s a cheater?” I asked confused.

“They slept together,” he said, like it was common knowledge.

“Really?” I said, more to myself than to him. This confused me greatly; Bella’s smug look after she left was bothering me.

Renee must have been thinking the same thing and asked, “Are you sure they had sex?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. I even have proof in the pictures I took; once I get them developed I’ll bring them over.”

I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right, but I pushed it aside to focus on the matter at hand. If Bella and Edward had slept together, we would definitely use that to our advantage. I looked to Renee to find a solution and was greatly satisfied to see she already had one. I tapped her shoulder to get her attention. She responded, in her menacing voice, “Have you ever noticed how much you and Bella look alike?”

I scoffed at her and rolled my eyes. I had always hated being compared to her, especially by Renee. Realization hit, with the roofie in his system Edward was too out of it to realize who he was with and if we could get him to admit he was with me instead of Bella, things would work out. We knew Bella would never admit to what she did and she would never bring it up with Edward, until it was too late. It was then that I could really appreciate Bella’s predictability.

James dropped off the pictures and we cooked her some stinking eggs, and we did what we had to do to keep this going. We explained the situation to her, knowing that she would never admit to sleeping with Edward, and we showed her the pictures. We planted the seed of doubt and it was all that we needed for our plan to work.

We risked it all on, the similarities between Bella and me. I hoped it would be enough to confuse Edward, even if momentarily to benefit us. The set up was our last chance and we knew it. Bella was annoyingly cheery about the whole situation, which didn’t help my weariness of the whole thing. Her eagerness to prove us wrong was discomforting, she knew he had cheated on her with her and yet she didn’t care. She was adamant in staying with Edward, her determination and devotion to him was a side of her I had never seen. It was a side I hoped would disappear soon.

When it was finally time for the confrontation, I couldn’t help but enjoy the spectacle these two made. Clearly, Bella thought she had won so when she heard Edward’s response to my questions her reaction was actually realistic. As for Edward, well he was just another fool who got played. I made sure to let Bella know who was the queen bitch and enjoyed every gloating moment. As the other guest followed, I pretended to plead with her to sell the story, but in reality it was very difficult for me to keep a straight face.

Once Bella took off and everyone finished their scenes, Renee, Phil, James, and I celebrated. When I came home, I noticed Bella’s dress on the floor. She had been here and left. I knew it would be better if I wasn’t home, so I went out to party and enjoyed my victory.

Things were going as planned. Bella had fallen into our trap all too well and was finally falling in line. We finalized our plans, and I even got some time away from Bella. Her pity party was too pathetic to attend.

When Renee had told me that Bella had fallen for Edward I burst out laughing, it was typical Bella. I always saw a small ounce of regret every time we finished a job, but she continued playing her role well. It didn’t surprise me that her conscious had finally caught up with her.

Renee and I both knew it was more her conscience than her love for Edward that made her reconsider her life choices. Although, it was almost impossible not to be infatuated with Edward, we still couldn’t let her ruin our plans. Edward was extremely wealthy, more than Bella realized, giving him up was not an option and measly crumbs would not suffice.

Bella was gearing up for a mini-vacation, leaving us to deal with the backlash. I was glad I wouldn’t have to pretend to be sensitive to her feelings; all it did was nauseate me. We gladly volunteered to keep her posted on the situation. Jay began the paperwork to file for divorce and all we had to do was have them served and wait for Edward’s response.

Bella had been keeping in touch with us since she had left and we were enjoying our time without her. Life without Bella was easy and stress free. Marveling at our brilliance we began using our platinum cards like crazy. The money we would be getting from Edward’s settlement would be enough to cover every shopping trip for the rest of our lives.

Weeks later Bella seemed to drop off of the grid. Every time we called her cell phone an operator told us the phone had been disconnected. We went as far as calling her hotel, but the front desk had no record of Bella on their guest list, or any of her other aliases. A week later we still hadn’t heard anything from her that is until we heard a knock on the door.

The FedEx guy was at the door, waiting for one of us to sign a receipt. Renee signed the paper as I took the large envelop and opened its contents. The enveloped contained our bank statements and investment information, they had been closed or emptied out. I shuffled through the papers until I found a letter from Bella.

My Dearest Family,

Congratulations, you got what you wanted from me, for me to be more like you. The money is gone and so am I.

Love, Bella

I reread her letter several times and Renee did the same. A part me was a little proud that she had pulled such a big stunt, but that quickly faded once I realized how severe the situation really was.

Renee got on the phone and began calling several of our banks and investment firms. After each call ended, I could see defeat slowly taking over Renee. It wasn’t until the final call that she finally admitted it both to herself and me.

“There’s nothing left, it’s all gone,” Renee said, breaking down.

I began to feel lightheaded and sat down. All of our money was gone. All of our hard work the training, cheating, lying all of it down the drain. I had never felt so empty until that very moment, Bella had run off with our money and we were broke. I reread the letter one last time, hoping it was all a lie, but once I read the last line again, I knew it to be true. Not once had I ever cried, I had never been that emotional, but at that very moment all I could do was cry.

Through my tears, I watched a solemn Renee shed a single tear, wiping it away quickly. In that moment I was afraid, afraid of what Bella had become, of what we had turned her into. Renee was powerless and she knew it. Even if she managed to recover, it wouldn’t be enough. We would be able to survive, but not really live. And in the end Bella had won, she escaped from this life I loved so much and walked away.